ConnectLife Blog

Timothy M. DeBoy of Cheektowaga became an eye and tissue donor upon his passing on April 12, 2011.

Robert Schultz became an organ, eye and tissue donor upon his passing on January 23, 2010. His wife Colleen shared this remembrance: Tangerine Lifesavers On our first date we saw Saturday Night Fever. Rob leaned over and asked me if I would like a tangerine Lifesaver. I said yes and the rest was our future. Rob was graduating college soon and he often joked that he would have never made it if I hadn’t typed all of his papers. Rob graduated with a B.A. in Social Work. He also

Scott E. Lewis became an organ, eye and tissue donor upon his passing on July 31, 2009 at the age of 50. Mr. Lewis worked as a welder with the Operating Engineers Local 545 in Syracuse and was a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He was a father and grandfather. His daughter Tabatha shared this remembrance: My dad was a huge NASCAR fan. He wore many hats as to what he did for work. He was a welder and a heavy machinery mechanic. He was a father to four amazing kids. I want everyone to

Zachary E. Dueger, a graduate of the Park School and a senior at the University of Buffalo, became an eye and tissue donor upon his passing on November 19, 2008. His parents, Pat and Bill, shared this remembrance: Heroism is defined as someone who demonstrates courage and is admired for his brave deeds and qualities. That truly fits our son Zachary. He was a healthy 22-year-old going to UB and working part time parking cars at Sabres games and other events. He loved his grand

Jillian Olivia Williams of Hamburg became an organ, eye and tissue donor upon her passing on March 9, 2011. Her mother, Deanne Mills, shared this remembrance: When my daughter, Shelby, nominated her sister and best friend, Jillian, to be a Unyts Hero, I was touched. When I learned that she was chosen for the month of October, her birth month, and also the month in which her sister had already been planning a Celebration of Life in her honor, something inside me stirred and I

Tammy Marie Goffin shared this remembrance: October 15, 1996. This is the day my daughter Nicolle Mae died and with the ceasing of her breath became a hero. As a new nursing graduate I was familiar with the organ donation process, although I never thought it would apply to me! Things like this aren’t supposed to happen, children don’t die before their parents… or so I thought. Nicolle was a lively, sweet, compassionate 5-year-old who loved big trees, her baby brother Josh, Ba

Jacqueline Dotzler became an organ, eye and tissue donor upon her passing on April 24, 2014. Her sister, Justine Fedchak, shared this remembrance: Jacqui was a beautiful person inside and out. She was loved by so many people and would do anything for anyone. Jacqui was a waitress in Batavia and was very into art and tattoos. She loved cats and treated hers as her babies. I want people to know what a kind heart my sister had. She was such a loving and caring person and had suc

His mother, Laura Brock, shared this remembrance: I have delayed writing this story, because it is so difficult to write about my son who is no longer with me. But I go on everyday remembering all the good times. Joe had a love for life. He enjoyed it to the fullest. Joe enjoyed all the holidays. He worked at Kmart with me for a short time and I remember he volunteered to be the Easter Bunny, he was the tallest bunny ever! He took pride at Christmas in picking out special gif

Travis J. Hilton became an eye and tissue donor upon his passing on November 10, 2012. Travis J. Hilton became an eye and tissue donor upon his passing on November 10, 2012. His mother, Jana Hoffman, shared this remembrance: An amazing young man came into my life in 1992 – my son Travis. Sadly we only got to spend 20 years with him. Trav loved camping, excelled at all sports, but soccer was his favorite. His athletic abilities were impressive – he could run up to a wall, jump

Shaun Szmak of Buffalo became an eye and tissue donor upon his passing on Dec. 4, 2010. This remembrance was shared by his parents, Colleen and Doug. Shaun was born June 26, 1979. He was our second son, he has an older brother named Doug (we call him Dougie). Shaun was born prematurely and required a lot of attention. He spent a few months in the hospital due to being born premature. We were told by the doctors that he would most likely be a learning-disabled child, and a sma

Written by Jim’s beloved wife, Barbara Jim was born on August 2nd, 1946. He was the second son of Mary and Ben Kwitowski. Jim lost his dad at age 3 and missed having a father figure in his life. Jim grew up on the East Side of Buffalo until seventh grade, when the family moved into an upper apartment on Beach Road in Cheektowaga, NY. He attended Maryvale High School, where he played football and was awarded a place in the Maryvale Hall of Fame. He was also awarded a scholarsh

Written by daughter Maranda E. Reed (Golding) I am honored to be sharing my father’s life story with you. First let me tell you a bit about the amazing man he was... Ken was born on Friday September 13th to Victor and Marilyn Golding. He was the younger brother to Debbie Golding and Vincent Golding and older brother to Jeffery Golding. He was born and raised in Niagara Falls, Ontario. From the stories my grandparents told me, my dad was a quite trouble maker and yet became a

Written by Shelly's mom, Debra I am so excited to share the life of my beautiful daughter, Shelly. Shelly was a very, loving, caring, generous and considerate young woman. Family was very important to Shelly, she had an older sister (my oldest daughter, Nicki) and a younger brother (Billy) and sister (Jillian), whom she loved very much, they meant the world to her. Shelly was my best friend. We could sit and talk, laugh and cry for hours. Mall walking and window shopping was

Shared by his mother, Ericka John Stark 1984-2005 John was full of life. He was always on the go, looking for adventure. He was into extreme sports and was always trying new things. His last craze was snowboarding. He was fearless. He did not believe in letting fear rule a person. He was also a prankster. He loved to get a laugh out of people. He also had a very deep sensitive side, which not a lot of people saw. John knew that I loved him and worried about him, as all mother